In the games

Bruno is a member of the Elite Four. He raises Fighting-type Pokémon, living with them and training with them. He joined the Elite Four out of a desire to challenge the best Trainers. Although he trains Fighting Pokémon, he also uses Onix and its evolution and his strongest Pokémon is always his Machamp.

Quotes

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four! Through rigorous training, people and Pokémon can become stronger! I've weight trained with my Pokémon! And that will never change! <Player>! We will grind you down with our superior power! Hoo hah!"

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four. I always train to the extreme because I believe in our potential. That is how we became strong. Can you withstand our power? Hm? I see no fear in you. You look determined. Perfect for battle! Ready, <player>? You will bow down to our overwhelming power! Hoo hah!"

When defeated

"Why? How could we lose?"

After being defeated

"Having lost, I have no right to say anything… Go face your next challenge!"

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four! Through rigorous training, people and Pokémon can become stronger without limit. I've lived and trained with my fighting Pokémon! And that will never change! <Player>! We will grind you down with our superior power! Hoo hah!"

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four. I always train to the extreme because I believe in our potential. That is how we became strong. Can you withstand our power? Hm? I see no fear in you. You look determined. Perfect for battle! Ready, <player>? You will bow down to our overwhelming power! Hoo hah!"

After sending out last Pokémon

"Fight as hard as you can 'til you faint!"

When last Pokémon is at critical health

"We're standing firm!"

When defeated

"Why?! ...How could we lose?"

After being defeated

"Having lost, I have no right to say anything… Go face your next challenge!"

In the anime

Bruno's first appearance was in To Master the Onixpected!. While Ash was preparing for the Pokémon League in Kanto, he found out that Bruno was training in the mountains near Pallet Town. Brock was enthusiastic about meeting Bruno, so they took Misty and headed towards the mountains. In the local mountains, it was known that Onix grew much larger than usual.

After Bruno saved them from one of the giant Onix, Ash and Brock begged for Bruno to take them on as students. Bruno agreed, as long as Ash and Brock would do anything he said. Bruno had them chop wood, carry water, and carve chopsticks - amongst other chores. Misty began to suspect that Bruno was a phony.

Brock decided to prove how amazing Bruno was by surprising him with a sneak attack. He assumed that Bruno's reflexes would be so amazing, he'd stop Brock with ease. Brock nearly ended up knocking Bruno unconscious. Bruno admitted that he didn't know any secret techniques on how to train Pokémon and just wanted to have someone to do chores for him.

Later, the kids were again chased by a giant Onix. The giant Pokémon was upset because a Sandslash was stuck between two of its boulders. Bruno removed Sandslash, calmed Onix, and it decided to join his team. Bruno then said that the only true secret behind Pokémon training is that Trainers and their Pokémon should care for each other.

Bruno has amazing physical power and agility in the anime, and appears capable of using them with almost superhuman expertise.

Bruno went to Mt. Hideaway in order to find and capture this giant Onix. At Mt. Hideaway Onix grew much bigger and stronger than elsewhere. This certain Onix was rampaging around the mountain in agony. Ash and friends tried to stop it, but didn't succeed. Bruno then appeared and was ready to catch Onix. When Ash and the others asked what Pokémon he was going to use, Bruno shocked them by telling that he wasn't going to use any Pokémon. Bruno soon found the reason for Onix's agony: a Sandslash had been stuck inside of it. After Sandslash was removed, Onix became very thankful for Bruno and accepted to come with him, so Bruno threw his Poké Ball at Onix and captured it.

Voice actors

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Bruno and his Pokémon

Bruno was primarily a villain. He challenged Red to a Pokémon battle in a remote area and fought him evenly, defeating Poli and injuring his Pikachu and Gyarados. Afterwards, his comrades Agatha and Lorelei then offered a position on the Elite Four to Red for his battling prowess, but Red refused so Lorelei froze him using her expanding ice cuffs. Many of his Machop were seen to decoy Pewter City and keep Brock at bay before stealing his Badge.

Later, the Elite Four were at Cerise Island unleashing the final part of their plan: to destroy humanity. Bill and Lt. Surge encountered Bruno near an acidic river, with his two Onix acting as bridges. The battle took place with Bruno standing on one Onix, and his opponents standing on the other. When Yellow and Blaine came along it was also revealed that he put up a barrier to stop any intruders from entering so a fair battle could be fought. Bill and Lt. Surge eventually gained the upper hand by combining Exeggcute's Egg Bomb with Electrode's Explosion to make the Onix collapse and make them all fall except Lt. Surge had his Magneton create a Barrier to keep them elevated. It later was revealed that Bruno really used his Hitmonlee's legs to keep him hanging on, and Agatha's mind-controlling armbands then forced him to try and drag Surge down to the acid, only to be saved by a stranger with a Venusaur riding a bike. Red then came, revealed himself, and defeated Bruno using Vee with new found control of its evolutions.

It was later revealed that Bruno was an unwilling member, and only strived to be the best fighter there is. Agatha used the mind controlling abilities of her Ghost-type Pokémon to force Bruno to join. Due to this he was suffering memory loss and questions why he was in the Elite Four, so he couldn't even realize that he was being controlled.

Bruno attaches his Poké Balls to the ends of a nunchuck. The force of him using the weapon causes his Pokémon to be released at high speeds, giving him the advantage in battles. He also has a unique Hitmonlee with arms as flexible as its legs, something previously thought to be impossible. It has also been mentioned, similarly to the Generation III main games, that Bruno used to train with Brawly, now a Gym Leader in Hoenn.

Pokémon

This listing is for Bruno's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Hitmonlee ♂

Hitmonlee is Bruno's main Pokémon that specializes in kicking. He was known to have very strong legs as he was able to destroy Bill's house in one single kick and in other violent activities. He was used in a battle against Red on Mt. Moon. During their battle, Hitmonlee was able to land hefty damage on Red's Pika, who was aiming for its knee but soon found that its elastic, spring-like legs made the feat virtually impossible. Soon afterwards, after Lorelei and Agatha joined the fray (and the latter activated the mind-controlling wristbands that she had Bruno wear), it was used alongside the former's Jynx and the latter's Gastly to defeat Poli, Saur, and Gyara. Hitmonlee was later used in the HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter, where it fought with Koga's Ekans against Lance's Dragonite, but to no avail.

Onix was used to battle Red during their battle on Mt. Moon. Despite a type disadvantage against Red's Gyarados, it was able to hold its own and deftly avoid super-effective hits from its Water-type attacks. Afterwards, it used its Bind to keep the Gyarados from attacking at all, only to take damage from the latter's Bite. It then dug underground to launch a surprise attack, and this time faced off against Saur. However, before that fight could conclude, it was interrupted by a pack of Diglett crossing, and later Bruno's Elite Four comrades Lorelei and Agatha. A while later, it fought Bill and Lt. Surge on Cerise Island. He uses it this time to battle Red again. Onix was used to carry Red and the others off of Cerise Islands as it was collapsing.

Hitmonchan was first seen in Bruno's flashback. In the flashback, Hitmonchan was seen battling with Red's Poli, whom it defeated by cloaking its ThunderPunch moves in the guise of using Fire Punch and taking damage from the Poliwrath's DoubleSlap. Hitmonchan specializes in punching, mostly in its elemental punch moves.

Machamp, specialized in chopping, was known for keeping the belt of Machoke, which stored the excess power that normal Machoke do not keep upon evolution. Those powers came in handy when it was able to defeat Poli with them before being subdued by Vee's Pin Missile. In the HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter, he used Machamp in the Pokéathlon, being able to break 2 sets of ten blocks really quickly without losing stamina in the Block Smash portion. However, he was soon overtaken when Gold's team consistently aimed for the blocks' weak spots.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga

Bruno in Pokémon Pocket Monsters

Bruno as a Johto Elite Four member

Bruno first appears in Clefairy's Under Training!!. When Red, Clefairy and Pikachu were out in a garden, they notice Bruno training with his Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Bruno invites them over and the first thing he has them do was go under a waterfall. After the waterfall training, he has them break some bricks. Afterwards, Bruno has them meditate. During meditation, Clefairy, for some odd reason, decides to disrupt the training, much to everyone's ire. This is when Bruno reveals himself as one of the Elite Four. Clefairy then starts to mess up his hair which resulted in Clefairy getting booted out of the dojo.

Bruno called out his Machamp and two Onix to handle Clefairy after forcing Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan to fight each other. However, they almost managed to defeat Clefairy if Pikachu didn't help him out in escaping.

Bruno reappears in A Challenge to the Elite Four where it was revealed that he is part of the Johto Elite Four. He, along with Koga and Will fell from the Elite Four Tower, seemly defeated by Karen. Red ask them what happened, but Koga ask him to ask Karen herself. It is later revealed that after being exhausted from training, Karen decided to tell them a joke, and they fell down the building after hearing her dumb joke.

Pokémon

Hitmonlee ♂

Hitmonlee was first seen training with Hitmonchan. He was involved in training under the waterfall, breaking the bricks and meditating. When Clefairy started to become disruptive, he forced Hitmonlee to fight Hitmonchan, even though his job was to get rid of Clefairy. Hitmonlee reappeared in A Challenge to the Elite Four all the way on the top floor of the Pokémon League.

Hitmonchan was first seen training with Hitmonlee. He was involved in training under the waterfall, breaking the bricks and meditating. When Clefairy started to become disruptive, he forced Hitmonchan to fight Hitmonlee, even though his job was to get rid of Clefairy. Hitmonchan reappeared in A Challenge to the Elite Four all the way on the top floor of the Pokémon League.

Machamp appears out of the waterfall after Clefairy decided to become disruptive. It was beaten after Clefairy forced the two Onix to wrap themselves around Machamp. Machamp reappeared in A Challenge to the Elite Four all the way on the top floor of the Pokémon League.

When Red challenged the Pokémon League in Indigo Plateau after he defeated all of the Gym Leaders in Johto, Bruno has added a Hitmontop to his team sometime before that. He appeared on the top floor of the Pokémon League when Red found Karen up there.

In the Pokémon Zensho manga

Bruno in Pokémon Zensho

Bruno appears in Indigo Plateau as the second member of the Elite Four whom Satoshi faces. He battles him with his Hitmonlee and is defeated, allowing Satoshi to move on to the next room to face Agatha.

Pokémon

Hitmonlee ♂

Hitmonlee was the Pokémon Bruno was seen using in his battle with Satoshi, but it was defeated by Satoshi's Lapras.

In the TCG

Bruno's PokémonCards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.

Trivia

Bruno's original sprite in Generation I and overworld sprites in Generation II and III show him with remarkably closed eyes (somewhat similar to Brock's), similar to his Pokémon Adventures version, but starting in the next generation, he looks the same way he did in the anime.

Bruno was the first member of the Elite Four who was met in the anime, not counting Koga, who was not a member at the time of his appearance.

None of Bruno's sprites have ever shown him standing up.

Bruno, Lance, Koga and Caitlin are the only Elite Four members who have appeared in more than one generation (excluding remakes).

Bruno, Lance, and Koga are the only members of the Elite Four who have appeared in all the generations prior to Generation V. Of the three, Bruno is the only one to always keep his status as an Elite Four member.

Despite taking place three years later, Bruno's Pokémon are at a lower level in Generation II than they were in Generation I. The same thing happens to Lance and Blue.

Bruno, Will and Koga are the only Elite Four members to have the same type specialty as a Gym Leader of their specific regions.